10 of the Quirkiest, Coolest Rooms on Houzz

When imaginations run wild, design fantasies take flight. See these daringly unconventional spaces for yourself

Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it.
You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/

Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel... More

These 10 rooms take thinking outside the box to new levels. They are examples of design and architecture gone wild and injected with imagination, playfulness and creativity. But it takes more than just imagination to create a space so different from conventional norms. It takes major guts (and a robust bank account). While most of us hem and haw and wring our hands while trying to choose the perfect "greige," designers of spaces like these just go for it.

The designs may not be for everyone, but they are all good reminders that it's OK to go ahead and take some chances.

So, say you're a really big fan of Game of Thrones and you want to build a basement rec room. First order of business: Create a spiral staircase that looks like a dragon's tail. Add a rock wall, a fanciful golden arch and voilà — you've got an architectural fantasy room worthy of Tolkien. Just lose the Coca-Cola sign in the back, please.

Hansel and Gretel meet modern art. There is something both beautiful and slightly threatening about these backlit branches "growing" in this hallway. They certainly are a departure from the bench and shoe rack that reside in most entryways.

This is in an apartment in Iran. My best guess is that this room is the bedroom and that the sheepskin-lined sculpture is the bed. Either that, or it's the consciousness realignment pod. Either way, it's hard to find sheets for it at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

This moat in a Colorado ski house leads to the wine cellar. The waterfall door stops when you step on the stone so you don't get wet grabbing that bottle of cab. If you ever wanted to feel like Indiana Jones, this is your chance.

What other people do can be stupid or not.
Here's a suggestion: use prints:
http://www.artsia.com/art-detail/kate
and check out more images on the site and others
http://laurentiu.artspan.com/
http://pinterest.com/laurentiutodie/

The "Game of Thrones" room looks cheap, plastic and cartoon-y, which is exactly what the current television series is not with its beautiful, rich, and dare I say realistic designs. The fantasy genre has long had the image of looking cheap and fake because most makers of fantasy television series and movies haven't had access to the same budget and quality of work as was available to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, for instance. As a result, they've had to resort to using cheap effects and cheap props to tell their story. To me it looks like this room is portraying the old stereotype of fantasy equaling low quality and bad taste, which is really a shame. A dragon's tail staircase as an idea sounds pretty cool to me, but this execution is not.

As a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire series as well as Tolkien, I just felt the need to comment on how fantasy doesn't have to be tacky like presented here!

I love those blue lights in the wine cellar. And the waterfall - though those stepping stones look like a sobriety test. If you come back wet, you're cut off! It's great that some people have the means to have fun with their houses. Why not??

Hear that sound???? That's the sound of your resale value on your house dropping like a rock. Who in their right minds would want to buy such ridiculous places in today's market? To those of you who will undoubtedly say, "why not, if they plan on staying in these houses, what's the problem"? Well you never know if you're going to get transferred or something in your life changes and you have to move, then you're stuck with a stupid non salable white elephant! LOL

I am pretty sure most people who commit to this level of personalization in their homes aren't planing on leaving them. Resale is not everyone's foremost consideration.
Also, I object to the Coca-Cola sign not because I love the room but because it is an anachronistic eye-sore.

I'm inspired! We're pulling out an old interior hottub on our main floor...maybe a slide to the basement is in order. Could be a fun DIY project and our young kids will never forget it! Hmmm, now to convince the husband....

Yup, when money is no object, you can redecorate whenever you tire of your trend-associated decorating .. “Game of Thrones”?!

Do like the various slides; they look like fun, and can probably be removed when everyone grows up. Thought the uneven broken-brick doorway was novel, yet functional, but raw plywood? Sure, if you don’t mind pulling splinters from your kids’ hands & faces, when they stick their noses into the holes!

Trisha Rose – Take a look at this high-rise fire escape system; from Israel:

@framelady .. the very rich DO pay higher income tax! A couple making $25K annually pays under $22% in federal tax, while a couple with $100K income pays 34.5%, and if they made $1 million, they'd be paying a 45% tax rate.

Wow! Some comments needs to lighten up....but everyone does have the right to their opinion. Quirky for sure! If you have the $ ..why not have fun with it in your abode! I am SO glad there are artistic,expressive...even oddballs in the world. How boring the world would be without them!

These are fun rooms and why not if that's what you like. Look at all the people that dress up and go to startrek conventions. What fun they have. Also how many remodel their homes every few years? So they might have something different later. If they have the money why not and as other Houzzers have said it gives others jobs to get the project done. Money goes around. Thanks for showing these fun places. LOL, it shows me how boring I am, lol Wouldn't it be fun to live like that.

Samantha, thanks for sharing these pics with us. The dragon tail staircase room looks a little bit on the steam punk side . These rooms may not be my taste, but still are fun to look at....something I think many people enjoyed when decorated "Model" homes used to be around. Remember those days, when high end builders used to put up spec homes?

love the slide to the basement )) beats the ole "laundry shoot" ( I remember my aunt had one when I was a kid and my cousins dared me to go down,which I did of course -lol) My current laundry room is on the 2nd floor. Thank goodness for innovated design.

The picture with a waterfall door to the cellar made me laugh... I guess it has built in it's own "too much vino" tester... if you can't step on the stone... you'll get cold shower...it'll remind you that... enough is enough!

Who knew quirky rooms could be so controversial! Each to their own I say, and if you have an opinion there is a way to express yourself that doesn't have to offend people. The rooms are cool, that's not to say it is what I would choose necessarily but I certainly appreciate that we all have a choice here and wouldn't this world be boring if we were all the same!?

Re: resale value comments.
There are much stranger homes than these, like the castle home in Lincoln, MA, that get swooped up just because they are so quirky.
I found the piece rather inspiring. The question is how to take, say, clear acrylic and blue lights, on a much smaller scale, The slide was awesome.

When I first read this article, and looked at the photos, I thought, "I'd like to meet these homeowners; they know how to have fun." Then I read the comments and sensed that a lot of others felt the homeowners might be having too much fun. But....maybe too much fun is a good thing in today's world.

I honestly don't think these homeowners are planning on leaving their homes after doing so much work to them. And also, I don't think these are ridiculous or over the top at all, personally I would love to come home to one of these houses. It's all about the owners dreams and hobbies, but I am still very jealous of these homes - I would be very proud to live in such a fun, modern and quirky lifestyle.

I didn't even see the Coke sign in the Game of Thrones room until someone commented on it! Ha!

I am thinking - slide - too! Our stairs honestly are not "standard" which is tearing up my knees. We are dreading the amount of work replacing the stairs will be...a slide may be the answer! (Probably not in reality...can't see myself in my business suit sliding out to work, but it's a fun little fantasy...would be fun to have when we are having a house party...maybe we can do a combo stair/slide...hell, may as well put in an elevator...duh)

I LOVE the creativity, the guts, and the 'devil-may-care' attitude towards resale. If you don't like it, don't do it, don't buy it, and certainly don't let it bother you to the point where you feel so strongly about someone else's design choices that you get angry and call them stupid. Just paint your house beige inside and out, and hope that when someone goes to buy it, they love beige as much as you do, or hate creativity as much as you do. Meanwhile, I will continue to LOVE this website!!

I hope to stay in my current house until they carry me out with a sheet over my head, and, while I probably won't go as extreme as these, they do give me some new ideas. I've already done some things not generally approved by the mainstream and people have loved them. Actually, lack of funds has been at the root of a lot of my creativity---out-of-the-ordinary doesn't mean expensive.

A lot of things can be done that aren't permanent if you're worried about resale.